Category Archives: local interest

May4

First flower buying trip of the year

Posted on Friday, May 4, 2012 by Dianne

That maybe the only flower buying trip of the year! We had a few extra bucks from a winning scratch off ticket that Bri’s dad gave us ($40!), but spent lots more. I decided I’d better propagate the huge petunia plant I got with a mixture of pink lemonade and Picasso something petunias. I had Brian with me and he was loading up on green peppers and tomatoes plus the ones I got.
Anyway, we were there 1.5 hours and I am ready to get digging, though my left elbow is giving me a hard time (I have a stretchy thing on it in the photo).

That’s an example of the Pink Lemonade petunias near my head there! We filled up the Mariner.

We then went to a family restaurant close by near where Brian worked a few years back. I got at least 3 helpings of mashed potatoes and turkey in one! I brought half of it home. Then we went to a little 5 and 10 style store and I got some fat quarters of fabric, a little flag and seeds.

The landscape is gorgeous in Lancaster as I have told you before. I didn’t bring my camera with me, but wish I did. We really saw a lot of Amish people and buggies yesterday!

It was a nice outing with my hubby.

Apr20

Photo Hunt-Reflect

Posted on Friday, April 20, 2012 by Dianne

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Evergreens reflected in windows of the Brandywine Museum, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

I have a few neat ‘reflect’ photos, the latest being up in NYC at the 9-11 memorial (shared the end of Feb.). I really like this one of the Brandywine River Museum from a few years ago. It’s a lovely place to visit! The wildflower gardens and river are especially nice to stroll around (outside for free).

Apr17

Tulip invasion

Posted on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 by Dianne

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Wow, it was the perfect day to go for a walk, which I did at Longwood Gardens. First I saw this rainbow of tulips:

These were at the entrance, so the building blocked the sun a wee bit. The others inside were mostly opened up, but still gorgeous.

These pale pinks are so delicate and I like the orange too!

As I only walked to one area and back, I got to see the ‘light pods’ they are setting up for night displays. The lady in the gift shop said to come back after Memorial Day to see them lit up.

It was around 4 pm!

Pretty orange azalea with the lake behind it.

The Wisteria are really pretty this year!

Mar25

Weekend in Maryland

Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2012 by Dianne

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Lovely king size bed in our room, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

It was nice to get away with the birthday boy from Friday afternoon until Sunday. Just look at this lovely room. I have more photos to share and will do so. This was called ‘The Philadelphia Room’ (pretty funny-we can’t seem to not get something related to where we live). The ‘water closet’ is through those doors there.

Last August, a Livingsocial.com deal came in the email for the Elk Forge Bed and Breakfast in Elkton, MD. Though not far away, under 20 miles, I thought it would make a great birthday getaway for me. As you may have remembered, Brian was sick with pneumonia and I cancelled it the day we were suppose to check in. I had to use the deal soon, so we went for his birthday this past Friday. Here is the birthday boy under the lovely Magnolia next to the inn. The warm weather was making it fall.

What a lovely place! The original is from the late 1700s and they added on, so they have 14 rooms now.

The ‘back’ of it is really pretty, we didn’t venture around to take a shot-this is from their website:

Our room was spacious and relaxing. Only two complaints-the big window behind the fireplace was back lit all night as there are steps right in that area. They need to camouflage that with something. The water was scalding hot and I did burn the toe I dipped in the tub!

Pretty mural in the dining room

Lovely conservatory

Dove couple-they had a baby!

Sweet common area near our room

Down the hallway

We left this on all night-it threw out heat too!

It surely was the Philadelphia room!

Pretty front door

Gnarly tree out back

Our trip to different Maryland towns tomorrow!

Mar18

Hitting the road

Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2012 by Dianne

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It’s fun to get in the car and drive about 40 or so miles for a day trip. Sometimes we stop off at places on a whim. Like just last week, Sean and I headed up to Lancaster and turned down a road that lead through the towns of Intercourse and Bird-In-Hand PA. The first place we saw was ‘The Old Candle Barn’ in Intercourse, so we stopped. I had fun looking around and bought a few little things. I saw a button bunny design and would like to replicate it.

They wanted $35 for this. I just won 100 buttons from an eBay action for $5, so I think I can make my own.

We went to the Old Candle Barn’s sister store called ‘The Gathering’ where I got my mom a couple of red granite ware metal plates that have 3 divided sections. She has a red kitchen (my brother painted it this color). The lady there couldn’t believe Sean was my son which was flattering. : )

We took a walk up the road and I took a few photos.

This is a neat grocery store with it’s neon ‘meat’ sign and phone booth you sure don’t see much of anymore.

This gorgeous Magnolia was blooming. Pretty sure it’s a month early.

We didn’t go in here, seems many stores weren’t open

Hmmm…the ‘Edged Weaponry Museum’-must have been lots of swords. Built in 1918.

We got in the car and just a few blocks away were many more people and more shopping. I saw the general store and remembered the scene from ‘Witness’ where Harrison Ford slugged the ‘English’ guy for making fun of the Amish. Someone said he was a ‘cousin from Ohio’. Sean was driving and whizzed on by.
There seems to be more restaurants in Bird-in-Hand. Sean said we can drive down that way again some other time.
Today, Brian and I went up to Oaks, PA to the Pennsylvania Expo center. It’s about 38 miles away. We stopped for a bite at McDonald’s and went on up to the Sugarloaf Craft Festival. We had gone up in November and I thought it would be a nice change of scenery and something not too expensive to do. I had coupons to save us a few bucks off the admission price. There were many of the same vendors and it was fun to check out what people make and sell. I saw lots of photos for sale-gorgeous, but since they were framed, very pricey.
I got this as it’s very rare to find my name spelled correctly. I may borrow this idea for my etsy shop, but with my own twist. The people loved this seller as these mounted piece were only $10. I will make a pretty frame for it.

We spent the most $ in a candy booth! They had like 3 for $10 bags of stuff. I got my mom some Black Jack gum she likes there. Then I bought some small tubes of hand lotion-coconut and lime I think.

We were here about an hour. On the way home we were about to drive past the Valley Forge National Park. Brian turned in and we went to the visitor center and saw some neat things like long swords (hmmm…more edged weaponry-lol) and fossils they found in the park from prehistoric animals. The daffodils out front were all in bloom-pretty!

I guess George Washington slept here?? LOL Administration building

We then headed to a Big Lots and bought some food items and then headed to a grocery store to get meat for dinner. All in all a good distracting day for Brian. Tomorrow he will call the main office to find out about insurance and a 401k he had with the company.

Mar10

Photo Hunt-Symbolic

Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2012 by Dianne

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Pilgrim Statue, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Oh, I have plenty of ‘symbolic’ statue photos!

This one, the Pilgrim statue was taking in Plymouth County, Massachusetts back in the fall of 1984. My fairly new hubby and I went on a driving trip to New England. Never been back, but want to! And it’s a film camera print-gasp!

My newest is of George Clymer who is down in Philadelphia near Independence Hall.

He signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution! This is a wee dark as it was dusky. We were about to take a ghost tour of Olde City Philadelphia which was neat!

Mar8

Took a little walk in the wind

Posted on Thursday, March 8, 2012 by Dianne

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Well I was up in air as to what to do today as it was a bit breezy, but warm. Longwood Gardens is having their orchid displays until the end of March, so I decided to go for walk and some photo taking. I renewed my membership for the year which went up $5, but they also give you two free tickets for your guests. It pays for itself after about four times.

Here are some of my favorite shots:

What you see when you enter the one end of the conservatory

A very tame squirrel. I had fun editing this for a friend

White columns of orchids

Begonias and Aechmea

Amazing Stargazer lilies

One of my favorite flowers-Blue Poppies

Hanging orchids and an archway

A trained Nectarine tree with blooms

Yellow butterfly bushes that smelled like exotic honey.

A moth-like orchid the Calathea

Take it from the Longwood gardeners-how to prune a rose bush-many only had one or two main stems!

Mother of Thousands plant

I’ve been taking Olive leaf capsules for my blood pressure (think it is helping-thanks Dr. Oz). Here is an Olive tree

There are more photos in Flickr-just click on a photo above.

Mar6

Ahola to the Philly Flower Show

Posted on Tuesday, March 6, 2012 by Dianne

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It was crowded beyond crowded at the Philadelphia Flower Show on Tuesday-must have been the bus crowd as the average age was 65+. We usually go on a Sunday and on a train and doing so we can usually get closer to the exhibits. My middle brother drove and took the long way in because of Sean’s GPS. It was nice to go with my brother as our relationship had been rocky for a while. When we got down to the city, we parked in Chinatown and Sean and I went into a restaurant to use their bathrooms. We said we’d be back and we did go back.
Sean and I decided to go to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch as it was going on to 1:30 as it was. Mom and her friend Jim went into the show and my brother went in another direction. That would be the only time we would see them all until we left at 5:30.

It was also crowded. We got premade tuna wraps and a soda and there was no place to sit down inside. We sat in a little park area and ate. There was this neat mosaic structure.

When we went back in the convention center (which was expanded) we looked up and saw empty tables on the next level. There was also a restaurant in the middle of the flower show. It was $18 for three courses. No one in our party ate there.

So we saw the cool ocean exhibit first and then the waterfall exhibit which was packed. It had music and an interesting light show. It was also hard to photograph.

The orchids were abundant at the show. These were at the base of the waterfall:

The surfboard table was rather unique:

I love these colors together. The butterflies were a nice addition

These were unique too-from the Vancouver, BC area

A hammock is required for Hawaii!

Hawaiian Anthuriums

It wouldn’t be the flower show without a Azalea or Daffodil display:

The Bonsai were very lovely:

A canoe garden:

This nursery is a few towns over from my mom. Not sure what the significant of the piled up stones is. It took up a lot of space and wasn’t colorful.

Here’s something for Pinterest for sure!

The gardens in this display were very lush:

Near the end, my photos got a bit blurry. I had the ISO set high and maybe near the competitor’s plants it was bright enough to have it lower.
And here’s the restaurant where we ate. Sean didn’t care for his meal as they added green peas to his old standby of Shrimp and Cashew nuts. He never liked peas. They said that the original thing he ordered, Baby shrimp and Macadamia nuts was seasonal. I think they didn’t have a jar of them maybe? The food was good.

I bought only a few things, “Jade” roses for $5, the real lei and a bouquet of dried flowers which I don’t have in a vase yet. Pretty!

I’ve got plans already for Brian’s birthday weekend down in Elkton, MD. in a few weeks!

Jan29

Around the corner nature shots

Posted on Sunday, January 29, 2012 by Dianne

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I drive in this area several times a month and just today I told Brian that I’d love to get out and take some photos. We were on our way home with lunch, so a bit later we headed a few miles down the road. The area is a nature preserve called The White Clay Creek, a tributary of the Christiana River. We parked in front of the closed off bridge where the road was buckling. The bridge was just named to the national registry of historic places a couple of years ago.

Brian always wants to take a photo of yours truly….

(did a little free photoshopping because Flickr’s editing program called Picnik is closing in April so I had access to the premium features. Gave myself some lipstick and botox-lol)

Last summer, Sean and I stopped the car in this same area to see if we could get a photo of a white heron we spotted there. Of course the stork-like bird was skitterish and we didn’t get a shot of him. I see the Audubon Society thinks this is an important area.

A mile or less up this road is a cemetery we didn’t know about until a few years or less ago. I remember driving by here at night, (before the cemetery was fenced off) and swearing I saw the white of a grave marker and it really was one! There use to be a Black church located here 300 years ago!

I believe the Boy Scouts fenced it off and made the sign for their Eagle Scout project. You could go in and look around, but by that time we were both chilled to the bone and glad to get some hot tea and coffee when we got home.

I hope you enjoyed seeing a little part of my world.

Jan14

The Presence of trees and other things

Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2012 by Dianne

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The Presence of Trees

by Michael S. Glaser

I have always felt the living presence
of trees

the forest that calls to me as deeply
as I breathe,

as though the woods were marrow of my bone
as though

I myself were tree, a breathing, reaching
arc of the larger canopy

beside a brook bubbling to foam
like the one

deep in these woods,
that calls

that whispers home

(so it’s not the woods, but isn’t this a wonderful tree?)

I had the rare opportunity to enjoy a walk at the park in January as it was in the 50s (this was on Thursday). I had my new-ish phone and captured this of what I think is a Sweet Gum tree. My fellow h.s.alumni , a movie director in California, gave me a thumbs up on Facebook (I sent the photo there first)-I was really flattered Todd. : )

So what else is new-sorting and cleaning in the super dusty and yucky basement-it was so bone chilling cold outside and I still needed to get Christmas stuff put away. I had a helper-thanks to Brian for sticking his nose in the dust. He’s making ‘smoke’ now. Good thing I took a Claritin. We had a nice roaring fire in the fireplace and he gave me a mixed drink of some peachy stuff and tequila-a bit strong. I had the ‘brilliant’ idea to get wood from under the Chestnut tree and it’s just not burning now. The ‘bought’ wood was fine, but I didn’t like the smell of it.

I got this today-a gift to myself and since I put so much moola in the iPad2, I wanted it to be protected:

(my protective cover has specks of dust under it, so little bubbles there)

You can see my messy wall desk calling out to me in the background. I am getting to that maybe tomorrow.

It’s a stand and the iPad can swivel from ‘portrait’ to ‘landscape’

I sent this to Zoey via email, not sure if she got it, but here’s catalog shopping at your fingertips! I got the case from eBags-funny I checked for coupons on the laptop while using the catalog app and found one for 20% off with free shipping. I really like that site. Got the case in two days! (Came from Penna. too).

(That’s my $5 ‘five below’ case, I think I’ll find a new use for it).

I got my mom the Le Pan tablet and she was upset as it froze up on her tonight. I went online and it said to just push the ‘reset’ button on the back. She is having fun browsing the web. She has an email account and Facebook but hasn’t used them yet, or any applications. It’s Android like the phones I am using. I got it for $180 and saw it for $350 on another website. She is enjoying it, but needs to learn how to clean out the cache.

I feel a weight off my shoulders as we start to dig through the mess of the basement. I want a craft corner for messy projects, etc. We made a resolution to go down there once a month and do more sorting. I have about 5 blue Hefty bags and only a few cardboard boxes with stuff left to sort. I’ll be buying more plastic bins for sure. We had 3 bags of trash and several things for the Goodwill. I still need to whiddle it down.

Keep warm!